"The Old Man with the Crazy Eyes" by JeFF Stumpo

"The Old Man with the Crazy Eyes'" by JeFF Stumpo appears in the 9.4 (Summer 2005) issue of The 2River View. Listen to the poem by clicking the title.

The Old Man with the Crazy Eyes"

When I am an old man
I will write letters
describing the recipients' lives
rather than my own,
astounding them
with the simple trick
of having already been there.

I will wear an expensive suit
and walk very slowly
among teenagers
and twenty-somethings
so that, in their frustration,
they learn to question authority.

I will visit retirement homes and dance
with Alzheimer's patients
who will never know that I return
to my wife every night.

I will not offer candy
or tell stories to children,
but fix them
with a gaze so curious
that they create their own
tales in treehouses
of the old man
with the crazy eyes.